System and method for sharing content

ABSTRACT

A method for completing a project using a content-generating device. The method includes receiving a task defining a content item to be generated, restricting operation of at least a first component of the content-generating device, operating at least a second component of the content-generating device to generate the content item, and making available the generated content item.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/629,098 filed on Feb. 23, 2015. The entire content of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/629,098 is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD

Various embodiments are described herein that generally relate tosystems and methods for generating type-specific content and sharingthat content among multiple users.

INTRODUCTION

Recently, there has been an increase in the use of electronic devicesfor instructional purposes. Use of electronic devices allows aninstructor to engage students in ways that were not previously availableto traditional instructional methods, such as paper-based methods. Useof electronic devices also allows for improved sharing of information.

DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the various embodiments described herein,and to show more clearly how these various embodiments may be carriedinto effect, reference will be made, by way of example, to theaccompanying drawings which show at least one example embodiment, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of aneducational system for providing electronic learning;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of acomputing system for a user to access the educational service provider;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart diagram illustrating an example embodiment of amethod for the creation of a content generation project;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart diagram illustrating an example embodiment of amethod for the carrying out of a project task of generating a contentitem;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart diagram illustrating an example embodiment of amethod for sharing generated content items amongst users of a sameproject;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart diagram illustrating an example embodiment of amethod for approval of a task response;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart diagram illustrating an example embodiment of amethod for making available generated content;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of a methodfor collecting documents based on context specific terms;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example task selectingenvironment;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example task environment;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart diagram illustrated an example embodiment of amethod for interacting with an instructor user;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart diagram illustrating an example embodiment of amethod for interacting with a non-instructor user; and

FIG. 13 is a flow chart diagram illustrating an example embodiment of amethod for monitoring location of one user.

DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

Various apparatuses or processes will be described below to provide anexample of an embodiment of each claimed embodiment. No embodimentdescribed below limits any claimed embodiment and any claimed embodimentmay cover processes or apparatuses that differ from those describedbelow. The claimed embodiments are not limited to apparatuses orprocesses having all of the features of any one apparatus or processdescribed below or to features common to multiple or all of theapparatuses or processes described below. It is possible that anapparatus or process described below is not an embodiment of any claimedembodiment. Any embodiment disclosed in an apparatus or processdescribed below that is not claimed in this document may be the subjectmatter of another protective instrument, for example, a continuingpatent application, and the applicants, inventors or owners do notintend to abandon, disclaim or dedicate to the public any suchembodiment by its disclosure in this document.

Furthermore, it will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity ofillustration, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may berepeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogouselements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in orderto provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein.However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the artthat the embodiments described herein may be practiced without thesespecific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures andcomponents have not been described in detail so as not to obscure theembodiments described herein.

The various embodiments of the systems and methods described herein maybe implemented in hardware or software, or a combination of both. Forexample, some embodiments may be implemented in computer systems andcomputer programs, which 10 may be stored on a physical computerreadable medium, executable on programmable computers (e.g. computingdevices and/or processing devices) each comprising at least oneprocessor, a data storage system (including volatile and non-volatilememory and/or storage elements), at least one input device (e.g. akeyboard, mouse or touchscreen), and at least one output device (e.g. adisplay screen, a network, or a remote server). For example, and withoutlimitation, the programmable computers may include servers, personalcomputers, laptops, tablets, personal data assistants (PDA), cellphones, smart phones, gaming devices, and other mobile devices. Programcode can be applied to input data to perform the functions describedherein and to generate output information. The output information canthen be supplied to one or more output devices for outputting to one ormore users.

The embodiments described herein generally relate to systems and methodsfor generating content and sharing that content among multiple users.

“Content item” herein refers to any electronic information that may begenerated by a computing device. The electronic information may betransmitted over a network so as to be distributed amongst one or moredevices acting as users or clients. A content item may be defined by itstype. For example, the type of a content item may be text data, videodata, image data, sound data or a combination thereof.

“Content-generating computing device” herein refers to any electronicinformation operable to generate (e.g. create) a content item, Forexample, the content-generating computing device may have at least oneuser input unit allowing a human user to interact with it so as togenerate a content item. The content-generating computing device mayalso have at least one capture unit for capturing a signal of anenvironment surrounding the content item. The capture unit may be acamera, microphone, accelerometer, or GPS unit. For example, thecontact-generating device may be a cell phone, smart phone, tablet,gaming device, personal computer, laptop, personal data assistant orother mobile device.

“Content item playback” herein refers to presenting a content item on acomputing device in such a way that the content item may be experienceby a user. The presentation of the content item during playback may varydepending on the type of the content item. For example, sound files maybe played back using a speaker. For example, GPS data may be representedgraphically on a visual map

“Association of data entries” herein refers to a link, such as a logicallink, among at least two pieces of electronic information, such as dataentries, so that accessing a first of the pieces of electronicinformation allows for finding and accessing the other pieces ofelectronic information associated to that first piece of electronicinformation.

While the various embodiments of the system described herein are fromthe perspective of an electronic educational learning system, it shouldbe understood that the techniques to generate content items and performcertain actions based on generated content items can be performed byother electronic systems including those used by corporations,organizations or individuals.

Referring now to FIG. 1, shown therein an example embodiment of aneducational system 10 for providing electronic learning. One or moreusers 12 and 14 can use the educational system 10 to communicate with aneducational service provider 30 to participate in, create, and consumeelectronic learning services, including various educational courses. Insome cases, the educational service provider 30 may be part of orassociated with a traditional “bricks and mortar” educationalinstitution (e.g. an elementary school, a high school, a university or acollege), another entity that provides educational services (e.g. anonline university, a company that specializes in offering trainingcourses, or an organization that has a training department), or may bean independent service provider (e.g. for providing individualelectronic learning). Therefore, it should be understood that a courseis not limited to formal courses offered by formal educationalinstitutions. The course may include any form of learning instructionoffered by an entity of any type. For example, the course may be atraining seminar at a company for a small group of employees or aprofessional certification program with a larger number of intendedparticipants (e.g. PMP, CMA, etc.).

In some embodiments, one or more educational groups can be defined thatinvolve one or more of the users 12 and 14. For example, as shown inFIG. 1, the users 12 and 14 may be grouped together in an educationalgroup 16 representative of a particular course (e.g. History 101, French254), in which the user 12 is an “instructor” and is responsible forproviding the course (e.g. organizing lectures, preparing assignments,creating educational content, etc.), while the other users 14 are“learners” that consume the course content, e.g. the users 14 areenrolled in the course to learn the course content. User 14 being“learners” may be referred herein as “non-instructor users 14”.

In some cases, the users 12 and 14 may be associated with more than oneeducational group. For instance, the users 14 may be enrolled in morethan one course and the user 12 may be enrolled in at least one courseand may be responsible for teaching at least one other course or theuser 12 may be responsible for teaching more than one course.

In some cases, educational sub-groups may also be formed. For example,two of the users 14 are shown as part of an educational sub-group 18.The sub-group 18 may be formed in relation to a particular project orassignment (e.g. sub-group 18 may be a lab group) or based on othercriteria. In some cases, due to the nature of the electronic learning,the users 14 in a particular sub-group 18 need not physically meet, butmay collaborate together using various tools provided by the educationalservice provider 30.

In some cases, the groups 16 and sub-groups 18 could include users 12and 14 that share common interests (e.g. interests in a particularsport), that participate in common activities (e.g. users that aremembers of a choir or a club), and/or have similar attributes (e.g.users that are male, users under twenty-one years of age, etc.).

Communication between the users 12 and 14 and the educational serviceprovider 30 can occur either directly or indirectly using any suitablecomputing device. For example, the user 12 may use a computing device 20such as a desktop computer that has at least one input device (e.g. akeyboard and a mouse) and at least one output device (e.g. a displayscreen and speakers).

The computing device 20 can generally be any suitable device forfacilitating communication between the users 12 and 14 and theeducational service provider 30. For example, the computing device 20could be a laptop 20 a wirelessly coupled to an access point 22 (e.g. awireless router, a cellular communications tower, etc.), a wirelesslyenabled personal data assistant (PDA) 20 b or smart phone, a terminal 20c over a wired connection 23 or a tablet computer 20 d or a game console20 e over a wireless connection.

The computing devices 20 may be connected to the service provider 30 viaany suitable communications channel. For example, the computing devices20 may communicate to the educational service provider 30 over a localarea network (LAN) or intranet, or using an external network, such as,for example, by using a browser on the computing device 20 to browse oneor more web pages presented over the Internet 28 over a data connection27.

The wireless access points 22 may connect to the educational serviceprovider 30 through a data connection 25 established over the LAN orintranet. Alternatively, the wireless access points 22 may be incommunication with the educational service provider 30 via the Internet28 or another external data communications network. For example, oneuser 14 may use a laptop 20 a to browse to a webpage that displayselements of an electronic learning system (e.g. a course page).

In some cases, one or more of the users 12 and 14 may be required toauthenticate their identities in order to communicate with theeducational service provider 30. For example, the users 12 and 14 may berequired to input a login name and/or a password or otherwise identifythemselves to gain access to the educational system 10.

In other cases, one or more users (e.g. “guest” users) may be able toaccess the educational system 10 without authentication. Such guestusers may be provided with limited access, such as the ability to reviewonly one or a few components of the course, for example, to decidewhether they would like to participate in the course.

The educational service provider 30 generally includes a number offunctional components for facilitating the provision of socialelectronic learning services. For example, the educational serviceprovider 30 generally includes one or more processing devices 32 (e.g.servers), each having one or more processors. The processing devices 32are configured to send information (e.g. HTML or other data) to bedisplayed on one or more computing devices 20, 20 a, 20 b and/or 20 c inassociation with social electronic learning (e.g. course information).In some cases, the processing device 32 may be a computing device 20(e.g. a laptop or a personal computer).

The educational service provider 30 also generally includes one or moredata storage devices 34 (e.g. memory, etc.) that are in communicationwith the processing devices 32, and could include a relational database(such as an SQL database), or other suitable data storage devices. Thedata storage devices 34 are configured to host data 35 about the coursesoffered by the service provider. For example, the data 35 can includecourse frameworks, educational materials to be consumed by the users 14,records of assessments of users 14, assignments done by the users 14, aswell as various other databases and the like.

The data storage devices 34 may also store authorization criteria thatdefine which actions may be taken by the users 12 and 14. In some cases,the authorization criteria may include at least one security profileassociated with at least one role. For example, one role could bedefined for users who are primarily responsible for developing aneducational course, teaching it, and assessing work product fromstudents of the course. Users with such a role may have a securityprofile that allows them to configure various components of the course,to post assignments, to add assessments, to evaluate performance, and soon.

In some cases, some of the authorization criteria may be defined byspecific users 40 who may or may not be part of the educationalcommunity 16. For example, users 40 may be permitted to administerand/or define global configuration profiles for the educational system10, define roles within the educational system 10, set security profilesassociated with the roles, and assign roles to particular users 12 and14 who use the educational system 10. In some cases, the users 40 mayuse another computing device (e.g. a desktop computer 42) to accomplishthese tasks.

The data storage devices 34 may also be configured to store otherinformation, such as personal information about the users 12 and 14 ofthe educational system 10, information about which courses the users 14are enrolled in, roles to which the users 12 and 14 are assigned,particular interests of the users 12 and 14 and the like.

The processing devices 32 and data storage devices 34 may also provideother electronic learning management tools (e.g. allowing users to addand drop courses, communicate with other users using chat software,etc.), and/or may be in communication with one or more other vendorsthat provide the tools. The processing devices 32 can also be configuredto generate context specific terms and perform various functions relatedto the context specific terms and the data 35 can include collections ofexpected terms as well as context specific terms, as will be describedin more detail with regards to FIGS. 2 to 8.

In some cases, the educational system 10 may also have one or morebackup servers 31 that may duplicate some or all of the data 35 storedon the data storage devices 34. The backup servers 31 may be desirablefor disaster recovery to prevent undesired data loss in the event of anelectrical outage, fire, flood or theft, for example.

In some cases, the backup servers 31 may be directly connected to theeducational service provider 30 but located within the educationalsystem 10 at a different physical location. For example, the backupservers 31 could be located at a remote storage location that is somedistance away from the service provider 30, and the service provider 30could connect to the backup server 31 using a secure communicationsprotocol to ensure that the confidentiality of the data 35 ismaintained.

Referring now to FIG. 2, therein illustrated is a simplified blockdiagram of components of a content-generating computing device 20according to one exemplary embodiment. The exemplary embodimentcontent-generating computing device 20 may be used by a user 12 togenerate one or more content items. As shown, the computing device 20includes multiple components, including for example a processor 36 thatcontrols the operations of the computing device 20. Communicationfunctions, including data communications, voice communications, or bothmay be performed through a communication subsystem 38.

The computing device 20 may be portable and may be a battery-powereddevice and as shown may include a battery interface 40 for receiving oneor more batteries 44.

The processor 36 generally interacts with subsystem components such as aRandom Access Memory (RAM) 46, a data storage device 48 (e.g. flashmemory or hard drive), a user input device 50 and a display 52 (whichmay be a touch-sensitive display that can also be operated as the userinput device 50). Information, such as text, characters, symbols,images, icons, and other items may be displayed on the display 52. Theuser input device 50 and the display 52 can be used by thenon-instructor user 14 to generate content items.

In some embodiments, user-interaction with the graphical user interfacemay be performed through touch sensitive display 52. In particular, theprocessor 36 may interact with the touch-sensitive display 52.

Other components could include one or more data ports 56, one or morespeakers 58, a microphone 60, a camera unit 62, a GPS module 64 andother device subsystems 66.

The portable electronic device 100 also generally includes an operatingsystem 68 and software components 70 that are executed by the processor36. The operating system 68 and software components 70 may be stored ina persistent store such as the data storage device 48.

Referring now to FIG. 3, shown therein is a flow chart diagramillustrating an example embodiment of a method 100 for the creation of acontent generation project. The method 100 may be performed by theprocessor 36 of a computing device 20 being used by an instructor user12 or by the processing device 32 of the educational service provider30. In some exemplary embodiments, steps of the method 100 may be splitbetween the processor 36 of the computing device 20 and the processingdevice 32 of the 30 educational service provider 30.

The term “content generation project” herein refers to an educationalproject in which at least one instructor user 12 and a plurality ofnon-instructor users 14 are participants. The participatingnon-instructor users 14 generate content items within the project whichare made available to the at least one instructor user 12. The at leastone instructor user 12 can then take an action in response to anygenerated content items. Generated content items may further be sharedamongst the participating non-instructor users 14, as describedelsewhere herein. The content generation project may be hosted by theeducational service provider 30 in that information and data related tothe project are stored on the data storage device 34 and may be treatedby the processing device 32. The project may further be accessed (e.g.for project management or to complete a project task) by the instructoruser 12 and non-instructor users 14 according to the access permissionsprovided to the different users.

At step 104, a new content generation project is created. The newcontent generation project may be created in response to an input fromthe instructor user 12 for requesting the creation of a new contentgeneration project. In various example embodiments, a new contentgeneration project can only be created where the creation request isreceived from an instructor user 12. The instructor user 12 may becreated by inputting commands via a project creation environment. Thisenvironment may be displayed on the display device 52 of a computingdevice 20 being used by the instructor user 12. The environment mayinclude a plurality of displayed elements which the instructor user 12may interact with in order to input various commands, including thecommand for creating a new content generation project. The projectcreation environment may be implemented in hardware or software on thecomputing device 20 and/or the processing devices 32 of the educationalservice provider 30 and may be accessed by the instructor user 12 uponinputting of appropriate login information associated to the instructoruser 12, such as a user identifier associated to the instructor user 12.Alternatively, the project creation environment may be implemented inhardware or software by the educational service provider 30, which sendsinformation to display the project creation environment in response tothe instructor user 12 inputting appropriate login information andrequesting to access the project creation environment.

Referring now to FIG. 7, shown therein is an exemplary data structure ofa content generation project 300 showing association of various dataentries. It will be understood that the data structure for a contentgeneration project 300 may differ in other embodiments as long asassociations of data entries described herein are maintained.

The new content generation project may be created as a data entry 304that is stored within the data storage device 34 of the educationalservice provider 30. The data entry includes a project identifier fieldfor identifying the newly created content generation project. Thecontent generation project data entry may be further associated to aninstructor data entry 308 that includes a user identifier field foridentifying the instructor user 12 that submitted the request forcreating the content generation project.

Referring back to FIG. 3, at step 108, at least one project task ofgenerating a content item within the context of the new contentgeneration project is defined. The at least one content item may bedefined in response to at least one input and/or selection from theinstructor user 12 within the project creation environment.Additionally, the content type (e.g. text, video, image, sound, etc.) ofeach of the at least one defined project tasks may be further defined. Adescription of each of the at least one defined content item may also bedefined. The content type and/or the description for each of the atleast one defined project task may also be specified within the at leastone input and/or selection from the instructor user 12.

Referring again to FIG. 8, a data entry may be stored for each of thedefined project task. For example, and as illustrated, where twoto-be-generated content items are defined at step 108, the generationproject 300 includes a first project task data entry 312 a and a secondproject task data entry 312 b, each corresponding to one of the definedtasks for generating content item. Each of the project task data entries312 a, 312 b is further associated to the project identifier data entry304. Each of the project task data entries 312 a, 312 b furtherindicates the content type 316 and a descriptor 320 of thatto-be-generated content item. The content type 316 and descriptor 320may be indicated within additional data entries stored on the datastorage device 34 of the educational service provider 30.

Referring back to FIG. 3, at step 112, at least one non-instructor user14 that is to participate within the newly created content generationproject is defined. The at least one non-instructor user 14 may bedefined in response to at least one input and/or selection from theinstructor user 12 within the project creation environment. For example,a plurality of non-instructor user 14 may be defined as beingparticipants of the content generation project by selecting aneducational group 16 or educational sub-group 18, whereby each of thenon-instructor users 18 belonging to that educational group 16 oreducational sub-group 18 are defined as participants of the newlycreated content generation project.

Step 112 also includes assigning at least one of the project tasksdefined at step 108 to each of the one or more of the definedparticipant non-instructor users 14. Assigning a project task to aparticipant non-instructor user 14 corresponds to defining a contentgeneration task that that user 14 is to complete within the contentgeneration project.

Referring again to FIG. 8, a data entry may be stored for each of thenon-instructor user 14 defined at step 112. For example, and asillustrated, four non-instructor user data entries 324 a, 324 b, 324 c,and 324 d are stored and are each associated to the project identifier304. Each non-instructor user data entry 324 a, 324 b, 324 c and 324 dincludes a user identifier number that identifies one of thenon-instructor users 14 participating in the content generation project.A non-instructor user data entry may be further associated with a usertask data entry 326. The user task data entry 326 indicates a projecttask assigned to that user 14 at step 112 and represents the contentgeneration task that that user 14 is to complete within the contentgeneration project. For example, by identifying the project taskindicated by the user task data entry, the appropriate project task dataentry 312 a, 312 b can be retrieved. Additionally, properties of thecontent item to be generated as part of the project can also bedetermined, such as type from type data entry 316 and description fromdescription data entry 320.

Referring back to FIG. 3, at step 116, a due date for the newly createdcontent generation project may be defined. The due data may be definedin response to at least one input and/or selection from the instructoruser 12 within the project creation environment.

The due date may be created as a further due data entry that is storedwithin the data storage device 34 and associated with the projectidentifier data entry 304.

At step 120, the newly created content generation project is madeavailable to the instructor user 12 and the non-instructor users 14 thatare defined as participants of the creation.

“Make available” as used herein can refer to a pull communication, apush communication or both. For example, information stored at the datastorage device 34 is made available to a user device in that the userdevice can request the information and subsequently download (e.g. pull)that information. Conversely, and for example, information stored at thedata storage device 34 is made available to a user device in that aserver initiates a request with the user device so as to cause the userdevice to download that information.

According to one exemplary embodiment, when the newly created contentgeneration project is made available, at least a portion of the dataentries stored within the data storage device 34 and corresponding tothat project may be made accessible to users participating in theproject. For example, users 12, 14 may access the made available contentgeneration project by providing their user identifier and logging in tothe educational service provider 30 using a computing device 20. A usermay then access using the computing device 20 information related to theproject.

In some example embodiments, the information accessible to a user maydepend on the credentials given to that user. For example, an instructoruser 12 may be able to access all of the information pertaining to theproject, such as being able to view each of the data entries and theircontent created for the project. Conversely, a non-instructor user 14may be able to access only a portion of the information pertaining tothe project. For example, a non-instructor user 14 may only view thecontents of the project identifier data entry 304, the contents of oneor more project task data entry 326 associated to the non-instructoruser data entry 324 a, 324 b, 324 c or 324 d of that user, and theproperties of the to-be-generated content item indicated by the one ormore user task data entries 326. Other information may also be availableto different users, as described elsewhere herein.

Referring now to FIG. 4, shown therein is a flow chart diagramillustrating an example embodiment of a method 140 for the carrying outof a project task of generating a content item. The method 140 may beperformed by the processor 36 of a content-generating computing device20 being used by a non-instructor user 14. The method 140 may includecontrolling various components of the content-generating computingdevice 20.

At step 144, information pertaining to a content generation project isreceived. The received content generation project corresponds to aproject that was created by the instructor user 12 and made available atstep 120 to one or more non-instructor users 14 defined as participantsof the project. As described herein, a non-instructor user 14 may loginto the educational system 10. Then by providing a user identifier forthat user 12 using a computing device 20, information relating to aproject associated to that user identifier may be downloaded to thecomputing device 20. For example, the user identifier is provided to theprocessing devices 32 of the educational service provider 30 and theinformation relating to the project associated to that user identifieris downloaded to the computing device 20 from the data storage device 34of the educational service provider 30.

Receiving information relating to the project may include accessing theuser task data entries 326 a, 326 b, 326 c, and 326 d associated to thenon-instructor user data entry stored in the data storage device 34. Theproject task data entries 312 a, 312 b indicated by the user task dataentries 326 may also be accessed. Furthermore, properties of theto-be-generated content item defined by the project task data entrybeing stored in the content item type data entry 316 and the descriptiondata entry 320 associated to the to-be-generated content item dataentries may also be accessed.

The received information relating to the project may be displayed withina task selection environment displayed on the display 52 of thecomputing device 20 used by the given non-instructor user 14. In oneexemplary embodiment, the task selection environment may displayinformation pertaining to each of the project tasks assigned to thegiven non-instructor user 14. This information may include the type anddescriptor of each of the to-be-generated content items as indicated inthe project task data entries 326 associated to the given user. The taskselection environment may be implemented in hardware or software on theprocessor 36 of computing device 20 and/or the processing devices 32 ofthe educational service provider 30.

Referring now to FIG. 9, therein illustrated is a block diagram of anexemplary task selection environment 360 displayed on the display 52 ofa content-generating computing device 20 that may be used by anon-instructor user 14. The task selection environment 360 includes adisplayed instructor descriptor 364, which displays a description of theuser instructor 12 associated to the project. The task selectionenvironment 360 further includes a displayed project descriptor 368,which displays a description of the current project. The task selectionenvironment 360 further includes one or more user task descriptors 372a, 372 b, and 372 c. Each project task descriptor includes a statusdescriptor 376 a, 376 b, 376 c, a content item type field 380 a, 380 b,380 c and a content item descriptor 384 a, 384 b, and 384 c. Eachproject task descriptor corresponds to a user task associated to thenon-instructor user 14 within the current project. The type field andcontent item descriptor are based on the type data entry and descriptorentry associated to the project task indicated by the user task. Anon-instructor user 14 using the computer device 20 may select one ofthe user task descriptors to initiate a task.

Referring back to FIG. 4, at step 148, a user task is initiated. Forexample, information relating to a project may be stored on thecomputing device 20 after being received at 144. The user may theninteract with the computing device 20 so as to initiate a user task soas to begin carrying out that user task. For example, the user may makea selection via the user input device 50 or display 52 of a user taskdescriptor displayed on the display 52 of the computing device 20. Forexample, the selection may be made by selecting one of the user taskdescriptors displayed in the task selection environment 360. Initiatinga user task corresponds to beginning of the generating of a content itemdefined for the user task. Alternatively, a user task is initiated assoon as the information relating to the project is received from thedata storage device 34 of the processing device 32. This may be the casefor where the project is web-based.

According to various example embodiments, initiating the user task mayinclude the initializing of a task environment at the computing device20 of the given non-instructor user 14. This environment may bedisplayed on the display 52 of the computing device 20 used by the givennon-instructor user 14. The environment may include a plurality ofdisplayed elements which the non-instructor user 20 may interact with inorder to carry out one or more tasks defined within the project. Theproject task environment may be implemented in hardware or software onthe computing device 20 and/or the processing devices 32 of theeducational service provider 30.

At step 156, operation of at least a first component of thecontent-generating computing device 20 being used by the givennon-instructor user 14 is restricted. Restriction of the operation ofthis component may last for the duration of time that thecontent-generating computing device 20 is being used to generate thecontent item. For example, the restriction of the operation of thiscomponent may last for the duration that the user task is ongoing. Thecomponent of the content-generating computing device 20 being restrictedat step 156 may refer to a hardware component of the content-generatingcomputing device 20 or a software functionality of thecontent-generating computing device 20.

According to various example embodiments, the component being restrictedcorresponds to any hardware or software component of thecontent-generating computing device 20 that allows for access within theproject task environment to pre-existing content items stored on thecontent-generating computing device 20, such as in data storage device48, or to content items stored outside of the content-generatingcomputing device 20. Content items stored outside the content-generatingcomputing device 20 refers to content items that is not stored withinany physical storage device found within the content-generatingcomputing device 20. For example, the externally stored content itemsmay be stored on an external drive, such as an external flash drive oran external hard drive, or may be stored on a storage device accessibleover the network 28, such as content items that may be downloaded fromthe Internet or accessed in the cloud.

It will be appreciated that restricting the operation of the at leastfirst component of the content-generating computing device 20 preventsthe non-instructor user 14 from using the content-generating computingdevice 20 to access and therefore submit any pre-created content itemsand/or externally created content items within the carrying out of theuser task.

At step 160, at least a second component of the computing device 20 isoperated to generate a new content item. That is, while operation of theat least first component of the computing device 20 is being restricted,at least the second component of the computing device 20 remainsoperable. The at least second component is operated in response to oneor more user inputs for interacting with the computing device 20. Itwill be further appreciated that since the at least second component ofthe computing device 20 is operated only in response to one or more userinputs and while operation of the at least first component of thecomputing device 20 is restricted, the new content item generated fromoperation of the at least second component is content item that isgenerated due to positive actions taken by the user and within thecontext of carrying out the user task. While component is operated atstep 160 may be based on the type of the to-be-generated content item.

According to one example embodiment, the user task may indicate that acontent item of the type still image is to be generated by thenon-instructor user 14 using the content-generating computing device 20.Accordingly, at step 156, access to the data storage device 48 of thecontent-generating computing device 20 being used by the user 14 istemporarily restricted so that the user 14 cannot access a database ofimages stored on the data stored device 48, these images having beentaken prior to initiating the user task. At step 156, communication ofthe computing device 20 with an external device, such as via the dataport 56 or using the communication subsystem 38, may also be restrictedso as to restrict downloading of a pre-generated content item to thecomputing device 20. While operation of the at least first component ofthe computing device 20 is being restricted, operation of at least thesecond component of the computing device 20 is permitted. In the examplewhere the to-be-generated content item is of the type still image, thesecond component of the computing device 20 includes a camera unit 62 ofthe computing device 20. At step 160, in response from a user input, thecamera unit 62 is operated to take a picture (e.g. capture the lightincident on the camera sensor of the camera unit 62).

According to another example embodiment, the user task may indicate thata content item of the type sound is to be generated by thenon-instructor user 14 using the content-generating computing device 20.Accordingly, at step 156, access to the data storage device 48 of thecomputing device 20 being used by the user 14 is temporarily restrictedso that the user 14 cannot access the database of sound files archivedor stored on the data storage device 48 that were recorded prior toinitiating the user task. At step 156, communication of the computingdevice 20 with an external device, such as via a data port 56 or usingthe communication subsystem 38, may also be restricted so as to restrictdownloading of a pre-generated content item to the computing device 20.In the example where the to-be-generated content item is of the typesound, operation of at least the microphone unit 60 of the computingdevice 20 is permitted while operation of the at least one firstcomponent of the computing device 20 is being restricted. At step 160,in response from a user input, the microphone unit 60 is operated so asto record a sound.

According to another example embodiment, the user task may indicate thata content item of the type video is to be generated by thenon-instructor user 14 using the content-generating computing device 20.Accordingly, at step 156, access to the data storage device 48 of thecomputing device 20 being used by the user 14 is temporarily restrictedso that the user 14 cannot access the database of video files archivedor stored on the data storage device 48 that were recorded prior toinitiating the user task. At step 156, communication of the computingdevice 20 with an external device, such as via a data port 56 or usingthe communication subsystem 38, may also be restricted so as to restrictdownloading of a pre-generated content item to the computing device 20.In the example where the to-be-generated content item is of the typevideo, operation of at least the microphone unit 60 and the camera unit62 of the computing device 20 is permitted while operation of the atleast one first component of the computing device 20 is beingrestricted. At step 160, in response from a user input, the microphoneunit 60 and the camera unit 62 are operated so as to record a video.

According to another example embodiment, the user task may indicate thata content item of the type text is to be generated by the non-instructoruser 14 using the content-generating computing device 20. Accordingly,at step 156, access to the data storage device 48 of the computingdevice 20 being used by the user 14 is temporarily restricted so thatthe user 14 cannot access the database of text files archived or storedon the data storage device 48 that were recorded prior to initiating theproject task. At step 156, communication of the computing device 20 withan external device, such as via a data port 56 or using thecommunication subsystem 38, may also be restricted so as to restrictdownloading of a pre-generated content item to the computing device 20.In the example where the to-be-generated content item is of the typetext, operation of at least the user input device 50 is permitted whileoperation of the at least one first component of the computing device 20is being restricted. At step 160, in response from a plurality of userinputs, textual data is generated.

According to another example embodiment, the user task may indicate thata content item of the type GPS data is to be generated by thenon-instructor user 14 using the content-generating computing device 20.Accordingly, at step 156, access to the data storage device 48 of thecomputing device 20 being used by the user 14 is temporarily restrictedso that the user 14 cannot access the database of GPS data archived orstored on the data storage device 48 that were recorded prior toinitiating the project task. At step 156, communication of the computingdevice 20 with an external device, such as via a data port 56 or usingthe communication subsystem 38, may also be restricted so as to restrictdownloading of a pre-generated content item to the computing device 20.In the example where the to-be-generated content item is of the typeGPS, operation of at least the GPS unit 64 of the computing device 20 ispermitted while operation of the at least one first component of thecomputing device 20 is being restricted. At step 160, the GPS unit 64 isbeing operated so as to take location measurements and generate GPSdata.

According to another example embodiment, the user task may indicate thata content item of the type sketch is to be generated by thenon-instructor user 14 using the content-generating computing device 20.Accordingly, at step 156, access to the data storage device 48 of thecomputing device 20 being used by the user 14 is temporarily restrictedso that the user 14 cannot access the database of sketches archived orstored on the data storage device 48 that were created prior toinitiating the project task. At step 156, communication of the computingdevice 20 with an external device, such as via a data port 56 or usingthe communication subsystem 38, may also be restricted so as to restrictdownloading of a pre-generated content item to the computing device 20.In the example here the to-be-generated content item is of the typesketch, operation of at least the touch sensitive display 52 of thecomputing device 20 is permitted while operation of the at least onefirst component of the computing device 20 is being restricted. At step160, a sketch data is generated as a user traces a sketch on thetouch-sensitive display 52.

While examples have been presented with respect to the to-be-generatedcontent item being of the type image, sound, video, text, drawing/sketchand GPS data, it will be appreciated that yet other types of contentitems may be generated using the content-generating computing device 20wherein operation of at least first component of the computing device 20is being restricted while operation of at least a second component ofthe computing device 20 is being permitted.

According to various exemplary embodiments, the method 140 mayoptionally allow for the regenerating of the content item generated atstep 160. Accordingly, the content item generated at step 160 is treatedas a provisional content item. Then, and as illustrated in FIG. 4, atstep 164, the provisional content item generated at step 160 is playedback for review by the non-instructor user 14 using the computing device20. The user may be further prompted to indicate whether the provisionalcontent item is acceptable or not. Accordingly, at step 164, it isdetermined whether the currently generated content item has beenaccepted or rejected.

If a provisional generated content item is rejected, the method 140proceeds back to step 160 and another provisional content item isgenerated from operation of the at least second component of thecomputer device 20. It will be understood that where the method 140returns to step 160 to generate another content item, operation the atleast first component of the computing device 20 remains restricted.

If the provisional content item is accepted, the method 140 proceeds tostep 168 to make available the provisional content item as the generatedcontent item. It will be appreciated that making available at step 168refers to the generated content item made available for review by aninstructor user 12 associated to the project. For example, the generatedcontent item may be immediately transmitted to the processing device 32of the educational service provider 30 to ensure that processing device32 receives the content item in a timely manner.

According to some embodiments, the generated content item may betemporarily stored prior to being made available. For example, agenerated content item may be temporarily stored in the data storagedevice 48 of the computing device 20 being used by the non-instructoruser 14 or in the data storage device 48 while being associated to theuser 14 and being indicated as not yet made available. Temporarilystored generated content items may be played back for review by thenon-instructor user 14. The user 14 can then decide at a later time tomake the generated content item available for review or to generatedanother content item for review.

At step 172, the user task of generating a content item of the typeindicated by the project task is completed. Completing the task includesending the restriction imposed at step 156 on the operation of the atleast first component of the computing device 20. That is, properfunctioning of the at least first component is restored. Where a taskenvironment is initiated on the computing device 20 at 148, the taskenvironment may be terminated at step 172. The task selection task canthen be presented again, wherein a status indicator for the recentlycomplete task now indicates that the task is completed.

Referring now to FIG. 10, shown therein is a schematic diagram of anexemplary project task environment 380. The environment 380 includes acontent item playback area 382 in which a provisional visual contentitem may be played back. The environment 380 further includes a firstselectable area 384, which may be used to submit acceptance of theplayed back provisional content item. A second selectable area 386 maybe used to temporarily store a provisional content item for laterreview. A third selectable area 388 may be used to reject a provisionalcontent item.

Referring now to FIG. 5, shown therein is a flow chart diagramillustrating an example embodiment of a method 200 for sharing generatedcontent items amongst 25 multiple users associated to a same project.The example method 500 may be carried out on the processing device 32 ofthe educational service provider 30.

At step 204, a first task response may be received from thecontent-generating computing device 20 that was used by a firstnon-instructor user 14. The first task response includes the contentitem generated from completion of a user task by a non-instructor user14 (i.e. the carrying out of method 140 at the content-generatingcomputing device 20). The first task response may also include otherinformation related to the project task, such as information identifyingthe completed task, the identifier of the user 14 that completed task,and/or information identifying the project.

At step 206, the generated content item included in the first userresponse at received step 204 is stored. For example, a data entry 332is created for the content item included in the first user response andis associated to the corresponding user task data entry 326 a, 326 b,326 c, 326 d. For example, the generated content item data entry 332 a,332 b, 332 c, and 332 d may be stored in the data storage device 34 ofthe education service provider 30. An approbation status data entry 336a, 336 b, 336 c, 336 d may also be created and associated to generatedcontent item data entry 332, wherein the status is set to “awaitingapproval”.

At step 208, the first task response is made available to the instructoruser 12 associated to the project identified in the project identifierreceived in the project response. According to some example embodiments,the first task response is transmitted to the computing device 20 usedby the instructor user 12. Alternatively, or additionally, the firsttask response is made available for the instructor user 12 that logsonto the educational service provider 30, whereby the instructor user 12can then download the first task response.

At step 212, an approbation response is received from the instructoruser 12 to which the first task response was made available at step 208.The approbation response indicates whether the first task response wasapproved or disapproved by the instructor user 12.

Referring now to FIG. 6, shown therein is a flow chart illustrating anexample embodiment of a method 240 for approval of a task response. Themethod 240 may be performed by the processor 36 of a computing device 20being used by an instructor user 12 or by the processing device 32 ofthe educational service provider 30. In some exemplary embodiments,steps of the method 240 may be split between the processor 36 of thecomputing device 20 and the processing device 32 of the educationalservice provider 30.

At step 244, a generated content item included in a task response isreceived. The generated content item can be one that was included in afirst task response received at step 204 and subsequently made availableto the instructor user 12 at step 208. For example, method 140 iscarried out by a computing device 20 being used by a non-instructor user14 to complete a user task. The generated content item made available at168 is subsequently received as part of a task response at theprocessing device 32 of the educational service provider 30 at step 204of the 200. The task response subsequently made available by theprocessing device 32 at step 208 is then received at another computingdevice 20 being used by the instructor user 14 at step 244.

At step 248, the generated content item included in the task responsereceived at step 244 is played back. The generated content item may beplayed back on the computing device 20 being used by the instructor user12. Playing back the generated content item allows the instructor user12 to review the generated content item. The instructor user 12 may befurther prompted to indicate whether the generated content item isapproved or not approved. The instructor user 12 may approve or notapprove the generated content item by interacting with the computingdevice 20, such as entering an input using the user input device 50 ordisplay 52.

According to various exemplary embodiments, approbation of the generatedcontent item subsequently determines whether the generated content itemcan be entered as an appropriate response for the ongoing project.

In one exemplary embodiment, the instructor user 12 may specify thatcontent items matching a specific description should be generated. Wherea generated content item received at step 244 is not relevant to thatdescription, the instructor user 12 can choose to not approve thegenerated content item.

In various exemplary embodiments, generated content item played back atstep 248 may be reviewed by the instructor user to filter outinappropriate generated content items. For example, the instructor user12 can choose to not approve any generated content item that may beconsidered offensive, not age-appropriate or confidential.

At step 252, the approbation response is received and it is determinedwhether the generated content item received at step 244 was approved ornot approved.

If the generated content item is approved, the method proceeds to step256 to transmit the “approved” response to the processing device 32 ofthe educational service provider 30.

According to various exemplary embodiments, if the generated contentitem is approved, the method may also include prompting and receiving atstep 260 an evaluation of the generated content item. For example, anevaluation environment may be displayed on the display 52 of thecomputing device 20 being used by the instructor user 12 to provide anevaluation. The evaluation may be one or more of a grade (e.g. numberscore, or letter grade A, B, C, F, etc. . . . ), an achievement badge ortextual feedback.

If the generated content item is not approved, the method proceeds tostep 264 to transmit the “not approved” response to the processingdevice 32 of the educational service provider 30.

Referring back to FIG. 5, at step 216, it is determined whether theapprobation response indicates that the generated content item of thetask response received at step 204 was approved or not approved. If thegenerated content item was not approved, the method 200 proceeds to step220 to transmit to the non-instructor user 12 a request for a furthertask response for the user task.

If the first project response is approved, the method proceeds to step224. At step 224, the approbation status 336 a, 336 n, 336 c, 336 d forthe generated content item data entry 332 a, 332 b, 332 c, 332 d isupdated. If a generated content item is indicated as being approvedwithin the approbation response, the status indicator associated to thatcontent item is updated to “approved”. If at least one content item isindicated as being non-approved within the approbation response, thestatus indicator associated that content items updated to“non-approved”.

Optionally, at step 228, the content items that were indicated as beingapproved within the approbation response received at 212 are madeavailable to other non-instructor users 14 that are participants to thecurrent project. Accordingly, other non-instructor users 14 can access(e.g. download and playback) the at least one content item generated bythe first non-instructor user 14 and included in the first projectresponse received at step 204. As a result, the at least one contentitem generated by the first non-instructor user 14 is shared amongstother users.

It will be appreciated that where multiple non-instructor users 14 areparticipants to a project and a plurality of the users 14 generatecontent items that eventually become approved, a pool of a plurality ofapproved generated content items 332 a, 332 b, 332 d will be accessibleto each of the non-instructor users 14. Moreover, where the project isset-up so that content items that correspond to a particular descriptorare generated, the plurality of generated content items will include asubset of content items that correspond to that descriptor.

Advantageously, the making available of a plurality of generated contentitems may enhance the learning experience for non-instructor users 14participating in the project. A non-instructor user 14 may easily accessthe work (i.e. generated content items) of non-instructor users 14. Forexample, the non-instructor users 14 can then compare the work of otherusers against his or her own work. For example, being able to accessmultiple examples of one subject captured in generated content items canprovide the user 14 with a better understanding of the subject.

Referring again to FIG. 8, the example illustrated therein shows fournon-instructor user data entries 324 a, 324 b, 324 c, and 324 d. Eachnon-instructor user data entry 324 a, 324 b, 324 c, and 324 d furtherinclude an associated user task data entry 326 a, 326 b, 326 c, 326 dindicating a project task assigned to that user 14.

Furthermore, a first user having the identifier of first user identifierdata entry 324 a, a third user having the identifier of the third useridentifier data entry 324 c, and fourth user having the identifier offourth user identifier data entry 324 d have each been assigned projecttask 2. These users have also completed their respective user task bygenerating least one content item. The second user having the identifierof the second user identifier data entry 324 b has been assigned projecttask 1, which has yet to be completed.

Furthermore, a first status data entry 332 a associated to the generatedcontent item 332 a associated to the first user identifier data entry324 a indicates a status “approved” to represent that the content item332 a has been reviewed and approved by an instructor user 12. Forexample, the status “approved” may further indicate that the contentitem 332 a can be made available to other non-instructor users 14participating in the project.

The second user identified by second user identifier data entry 324 bhas yet 5 to submit a project response with a generated content item.Therefore, no generated content item data entry is associated to thisuser.

A status data entry 332 b associated to the content item 328 bassociated to the third user identifier data entry 324 c indicates astatus “awaiting approval” to represent that the content item 328 b hasnot yet been reviewed by an instructor user 12. For example, thiscontent item may be presented in a list to the instructor user 12 toprompt the user 12 to review and provide approbation of the content item328 b.

Two content items 328 c, 328 d are associated to the user task dataentry 326 d of the fourth user identifier 324 d. The status data entry332 c associated to a content item 328 c indicates a status “notapproved” to represent that the content item included in a first taskresponse from the user was reviewed by an instructor user 12 and was notapproved by that user. Subsequently, the user was requested to provideanother generated content item to complete the task, which resulted inthe content item 328 d being submitted. This second content item 328 dwas also reviewed by the instructor user 12 and was approved, therebyresulting the “approved” status 332 d being associated to the secondcontent item 328 d. For example, the status “approved” may furtherindicate the content item 328 d can be made available to othernon-instructor users 12 participating in the project.

Referring now to FIG. 7, therein illustrated is a flow chart diagramillustrating an example embodiment of a method 500 for making availablegenerated content from a project that is external to a current project.The example method 500 may be carried out on the processing device 32 ofthe educational service provider 30.

The term “current project” herein refers to a project in whichnon-instructor users 14 participating in the project generate contentitems to complete user tasks assigned to the users 14.

The term “external project” herein refers to a project other than thecurrent project. In particular, the external project may includenon-instructor users 14 that are not participating in the currentproject. For example, the non-instructor users 14 of the externalproject may be users in another educational group 16 or sub-group 18,such as another classroom. The non-instructor users 14 may also be usersfrom another educational institution, entity that provides educationalservices or an independent service provider. In some cases, thenon-instructor users 14 of the external project may be located at aremote location from the non-instructor users 14 of the current project.The external project may be a project that was previously completed orone that is ongoing.

Continuing with FIG. 7, at step 504, a related external project isidentified. Identifying the related external project may includeidentifying an external project that includes at least one project taskdata entry (312 a, 312 b) that indicates a content type 316 anddescriptor 320 that matches the content type 316 and descriptor 320indicated by a content item data entry of the current project.Accordingly, the identified external project will include generatedcontent item entries that are related to and/or relevant to generatedcontent item of the current project.

Identifying the related external project may include searching throughdata entries of archived projects stored on the data storage device 34of the educational service provider 30. Identifying the related externalproject may also include accessing a database of external projects. Forexample, the database may include data entries indicating content typeand descriptor for external projects that were carried out or that arecurrently being carried out at another educational institution, anotherentity that provides educational services or an independent serviceprovider. In some example embodiments, the database of external projectmay include indexed data entries indicating content type and descriptorfor easy identification of related external projects.

At step 508, at least one generated content item of the related externalproject identified at step 504 is made available to at least onenon-instructor user 14 of the current project. In some exampleembodiments, generated content items having a type and descriptor of therelated external project that match the type and descriptor of a contentitem data entry of the current project are made available.

Making available generated content items of the related external projectmay include copying that generated content item to the data storagedevice 34 of the educational service provider hosting the currentproject.

Alternatively, a link to the generated content item of the relatedexternal project may be associated to one or more non-instructor userdata entries 324 a, 324 b, 324 c and 324 d.

It will be appreciated that making available generated content items ofan external task project allows a non-instructor user 14 of the currentproject to play back those generated content items. Playing back thisgenerated content item may also enhance the learning experience ofnon-instructor users 14. For example, a non-instructor user 14 may beable to compare his or her own generated content items with that ofusers in other projects. Additionally, the non-instructor user 14 may beto view how the subject matter of a generated content item may bedifferent when being captured by users in another geographical area. Forexample, a non-instructor user 14 may compare images of food, fauna,flora, art, weather, architecture, etc. of his or her own geographicallocation with generated content item from a related external projectconducted in another geographical location showing differences in food,fauna, flora, art, weather, architecture, etc.

Additionally, making available generated content items from an externalproject ensures that the generated content items are made available tothe non-instructor users in a controlled and filtered manner. Forexample, by making available only the generated content items from theexternal project that have an “approved” status, the content items aremade available will all have undergone an approbation step, such as step252 of method 240, thereby reducing the possibility that irrelevant orinappropriate generated content items are made available to the users.

According to various exemplary embodiments described herein, the makingavailable of various responses within a project may be delayed for apredetermined duration of time.

In some exemplary embodiments, the making available of a generatedcontent item at step 168 may be delayed by a predetermined duration oftime after generating the content item at step 164 of method 140.

In some exemplary embodiments, the making available of the generatedcontent item at step 208 may be delayed by a predetermined duration oftime after receiving and storing a task response at step 204 and 06 ofmethod 200.

In some exemplary embodiments, the making available of the first project5 response to other non-instructor users a step 228 may be delayed for apredetermined duration of time after receiving an approbation responsefor an instructor user 12 at step 216 of method 200.

In some exemplary embodiments, the transmitting of an evaluationprovided by an instructor user at step 260 may also be delayed for apredetermined duration of time after the evaluation is provided at step260.

Delaying the making available of various responses from an instructoruser 12 or a non-instructor user 14 may be useful to ensure anonymity ofusers within the project. For example, in a setting where a plurality ofnon-instructor users 14 are present and can see each other's interactionwith a computing device, instantly making available response (especiallyin a push transmission) allows users to identify a particular responsewith a non-instructor user 14.

By way of example, where no delay is applied, users may see one givennon-instructor user 14 interact with his or her computing device 20 andimmediately see the instructor user 12 receiving a response at theinstructor's computing device. In such an instance, it can be deducedthat the response received by the instructor was transmitted by thegiven non-instructor user 14.

Similarly, users may see an instructor user 12 interact with his or hercomputing device 20 and immediately see a given non-instructor user 14receiving a response at that user's device. In such an instance, it canbe deduced that the instructor was communicating with thatnon-instructor user 14.

By contrast, where a delay is applied before the making available ortransmission of a response, a plurality of users may be interacting withtheir respective computing devices 20 or a plurality of users may bereceiving response. Accordingly, it becomes more difficult to deducewhich non-instructor user 14 communicated with an instructor user 12.

Referring now to FIG. 11, shown therein is a flowchart of an examplemethod 520 for interacting with an instructor user 12. The method 520may be performed by the processor 36 of a computing device 20 being usedby a non-instructor user 12. In some exemplary embodiments, steps of themethod 240 may be split between the processor 36 of the computing device20 and the processing device 32 of the educational service provider 30.

At step 524, a content item is generated by a user using acontent-generating computing device 20.

At step 528, the delay of the predetermined duration is allowed toexpire.

At step 532, after the expiration of the delay of the predeterminedduration, the generated content item is made available to the instructoruser.

Referring now to FIG. 12, shown therein is a flowchart of a method 540for interacting with a non-instructor user 14. The method 540 may beperformed by the processor 36 of a computing device 20 being used by aninstructor user 12. In some exemplary embodiments, steps of the method240 may be split between the processor 36 of the computing device 20 andthe processing device 32 of the educational service provider 30.

At step 544, a content item is generated by a user using acontent-generating computing device 20.

At step 548, the delay of the predetermined duration is allowed toexpire.

At step 552, after the expiration of the delay of the predeterminedduration, the generated content item is made available to thenon-instructor user 14.

The use of a delay before transmission may be useful to engage shystudents who do not like to speak up in class. Those students couldsubmit an answer using a computing device 20 to the instructor, whichcan be received by the instructor. The instructor can then responseusing another computing device 20. Applying the delay ensures thatcommunication between a student and a instructor is not instantaneous,thereby making it more difficult to identify which student isinteracting with the instructor.

Various exemplary embodiments described herein may be useful whenteaching is being carried out outside of a classroom setting. Forexample, on field trip, non-instructor users 14 may usecontent-generating computing devices 20 to capture things experiencedduring the field trip.

According to one exemplary embodiment, an ongoing project may furtherinclude monitoring the location of users. Referring now to FIG. 13,therein illustrated is a method 600 for monitoring location of one user.The method 540 may be performed by the processor 36 of a computingdevice 20 being used by an instructor user 12. In some exemplaryembodiments, steps of the method 240 may be split between the processor36 10 of the computing device 20 and the processing device 32 of theeducational service provider 30.

At step 604, the current geographical location one user is received. Forexample, the user may be a non-instructor user 14. The location of theuser may be indicated by a positioning device, such as GPS module 64 ofa content-generating computing device 20 being carried on that user.

At step 608, it is determined whether the geographical location receivedat step 604 is outside of a predetermined boundary. The predeterminedboundary may define a geographical area representing a zone that is safeor allowed for non-instructor users 14 of the current project.

If the current geographical location received at step 604 is within thepredetermined boundary, the method 600 returns to step 604 to receiveanother geographical location of the user.

If the current geographical location received at step 604 is outside thepredetermined boundary, the method proceeds to step 612 to transmit analert to the instructor user. Being outside the boundary represents to asituation where a user has moved outside of the safe or allowed zone.For example, it may represent a student who has wandered too far duringa field trip.

It should be understood that various modifications can be made to theembodiments described and illustrated herein, without departing from theembodiments, the general scope of which is defined in the appendedclaims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for completing a project using acontent-generating device, the method comprising: receiving a taskdefining a content item to be generated, wherein the task is defined bya first user; restricting operation of at least a first component of thecontent-generating device; receiving the content item, wherein thecontent item was generated in connection with a second user's use of atleast a second component of the content-generating device; and makingavailable the generated content item to the first user, wherein thegenerated content item is made available after receiving an interactionfrom a third user subsequent to receiving the content item.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the at least first component is operable toaccess pre-existing content items and wherein restricting operation ofthe at least first component prevents data access to the prior content.3. The method of claim 1, wherein restricting operation of the leastfirst component of the content-generation device is ended after makingavailable the generated content item.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinreceiving the task for generating the content item comprises receiving atype of the content item to be generated; and wherein the at leastsecond component of the content generated is chosen based on the type ofthe content item to be generated.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thetype is chosen from one of text, sound, video, and still image.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: in response to generating a firstprovisional content item, prompting for acceptance of the generatedfirst content item; receiving a response indicating acceptance of thefirst content item or non-acceptance of the first provisional contentitem; in response to receiving the non-acceptance response of the firstprovisional content item, operating the at least second component togenerate a second content item; and wherein the first provisionalcontent item is made available as the generated content item to theproject management server, in response to receiving the responseindicating acceptance.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein making thecontent item available is delayed by a predetermined duration of timeafter generating the content item.
 8. A method for sharing of contentitems generated within a current project, the method comprising:receiving a first response from a first non-instructor user, theresponse having a project identifier and a first generated content item,the first non-instructor user being associated to the projectidentifier, wherein the first generated content item was generated inconnection with use of a first component of a content-generating deviceat a time when operation of a second component of the content-generatingdevice was restricted; making available the first generated content itemto an instructor user associated to the project identifier, wherein thegenerated content item is made available after receiving an interactionfrom a second non-instructor user subsequent to receiving the firstresponse, receiving from the instructor user a first approbationresponse indicating approval or non-approval of the first content item;in response to receiving the first approbation response indicatingapproval of the first content item, making available the first generatedcontent item to at least the second non-instructor user associated tothe project identifier.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:receiving from the instructor user evaluation data for the generatedcontent item; and making available the evaluation to the firstnon-instructor user.
 10. The method of claim 8, further comprising: inresponse to receiving the first approbation response indicatingnon-approval of the first content item, transmitting to the firstnon-instructor user a project completion request for generating at leastone additional content item.
 11. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: receiving a second response from the second non-instructoruser associated to the project identifier, the response having theproject identifier and a second content item; making available thereceived second content item to the instructor user associated to theproject identifier; receiving from the instructor user a secondapprobation response indicating approval or non-approval of the secondcontent item; in response to receiving the second approbation responseindicating approval of the second content item, making available thesecond content item to at least the first non-instructor user associatedto the project identifier.
 12. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: searching for at least one external project relevant to thecurrent project; making available to at least one of the firstnon-instructor user and the second non-instructor user at least onecontent item generated for the at least one external project.
 13. Themethod of claim 8, making available the first content item to theinstructor user associated to the project identifier comprisestransmitting the received content item to the instructor user, whereinthe transmitting of the content item is delayed by a predeterminedduration of time after receiving the first content item.
 14. The methodof claim 8, wherein the given type associated to the project identifieris chosen from one of text, sound, video, and still image.